So why did it take more than four years after The Secrets of Eastcliff-by-the-Sea was published before I made a serious commitment to writing a story that I’d had in mind for almost all of that time?

Many reasons, but it’s only recently that I’ve come to understand one of the main reasons is: during that period my best friend was fighting cancer with all she had. No one wanted to live more than this remarkable woman did, and she tried every treatment available to her. Sadly, she passed away in the spring of 2017.

Throughout all the years that I wrote three, and published two, novels for young children, she was a combination of editor extraordinaire and my #1 fan and cheerleader. A former English major, school librarian, and district-wide administrator, she loved to read, and seemed to truly enjoy being intimately engaged with my writing process.

She often accompanied me to Prince Edward Island, came to almost all my author events, and from time to time sent me postcards with little notes that said, “For the writer in you,” when I’d get discouraged. Writing books for children was just not the same after she was gone. But in the days before her death, I did tell her that IF I were to write another book, I would dedicate it to her. And I will.

And today, on this twenty-seventh day of National Novel Writing Month, I will write another 1500 words, but sometimes it’s good just to pause and remember.